Status update: Gujarat riots cases, 21 years on

Nine cases are under investigation by a Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT), including the main Godhra train burning incident.

A sessions court in Halol, Panchmahal district, recently acquitted 35 people accused of rioting in Gujarat in 2002 because of lack of evidence. The rioting, in which three persons were killed, took place in Kalol town and Derol and Delol villages in Kalol taluka, on February 28, 2002. Of the 52 persons accused in the case, 17 died during trial. “These were spontaneous sets of riots in Gujarat. They were not planned ones as described by pseudo-secularists,” the court said in the judgement.

Supreme Court of India. (PTI File Photo)

On February 27, 2002, 59 kar sevaks returning from Ayodhya were killed when the S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express was set alight by a mob. The rioting that ensued in the western state led to the deaths of over 1,200 people and left over 2,500 injured and more than 200 persons missing according to official figures. A majority of those killed, injured and missing belong to the Muslim community.

Nine cases are under investigation by a Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT), including the main Godhra train burning incident. The Supreme Court ordered the constitution of SIT on March 26, 2008, which took over the probe of these cases from the Gujarat police. A total of 534 people were accused of violence in the nine cases. Of them, 362 persons have been acquitted till date by the trial courts in the nine cases investigated by the SIT.

Here’s a look at where each case stands, 21 years after the incident:

S6 Godhra train: 59 kar sevaks were killed in the S6 coach of Sabarmati Express when a mob attacked it near Godhra railway station on February 28, 2002. According to the SIT, 107 people were initially charged in the chargesheet filed before first-class railway magistrate P. K. Joshi in the train burning incident. Later, the number of accused was reduced to 68 people, which included 57 who were accused of stoning and torching the train. In February 2011, the SIT court convicted 31 people and acquitted 63, and called the incident a planned conspiracy. The trial court awarded the death penalty to 11 convicts and sentenced 20 other convicts to life imprisonment. In 2017, the Gujarat high court (HC) commuted the death sentence of 11 convicts to life imprisonment and upheld the life sentence awarded to 20 convicts. It also upheld the acquittal of 63 persons. On April 21, a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud granted bail to eight of the men convicted of life imprisonment and refused bail to four others.

Gulberg Society: The case pertained to a murderous mob which killed 69 people, including former Congress parliamentarian Ehsan Jafri, in Gulberg society in Ahmedabad. A trial court convicted 24 out of 60 accused, and sentenced 11 to life imprisonment in 2016. In June 2022, the Supreme Court dismissed his widow Zakia Jafri’s petition against the closure report filed by the SIT which stated that based on their investigation there was no larger conspiracy behind the politician’s death, exonerating Narendra Modi (the then CM), and other high-ranking officials of any wrong-doing.

Naroda Patiya: 96 people were killed in Naroda Patiya, Ahmedabad, following the Godhra train burning incident. The victims included several members of Bilkis Bano’s family. Bano, who was five months pregnant, was also gang-raped. A trial court sentenced 32 out of the 61 accused, including former Gujarat minister Maya Kodnani and ex-Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi to life imprisonment. The Gujarat HC upheld the conviction of 16 people including Bajrangi, but acquitted Kodnani in 2018. Many, including Bajrangi, have appealed to the apex court. Last November, 11 of the men accused of raping Bilkis Bano and murdering her family were released after a panel set up by the state government permitted their application for remission of sentence. Bano has filed a petition before the Supreme Court questioning the grounds for their release.

Naroda Gam: 11 people were killed during the Gujarat riots in Ahmedabad’s Naroda Gam area. In 2008, the SIT took over the probe from the Gujarat Police and arrested more than 30 persons in the case, including Maya Kodnani, Babu Bajrangi and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Jaydeep Patel. Of the 86 accused in the case, 18 died during the pendency of the trial, while one was discharged due to insufficient evidence.

In April, the SIT court acquitted all 67 accused in the Naroda Gam case, including Kodnani, Bajrangi and Patel. The SIT will appeal the order at the Gujarat HC.

Sardarpura: 13 people were killed in Sardarpura village in Mehsana district in the Gujarat riots. Out of the 73 accused, a trial court sentenced 31 to life imprisonment in 2011 and acquitted 42. While the Gujarat HC upheld the life term of 17, it acquitted the remaining 14. In 2020, the SC granted bail to all 17.

Anand district: 23 people were killed in the riots that broke out in Ode village in Anand district. A trial court convicted 23 persons and sentenced 18 of them to life imprisonment. In 2012, the Gujarat HC upheld the conviction of 19 out of the 23, including all who were sentenced to life imprisonment.

Pandarwada village: 39 people were killed in the riots in Pandarwada village in Panchmahal district. The bodies of 20 victims remained unclaimed and were buried near the Panam river in Lunawada town. In 2005, relatives of some of these victims sought to exhume the remains and bury them under religious rites. A trial court acquitted the 21 accused of this violence. A case against 14 other men, who were later arrested for this violence, is still pending.

British nationals: Three British nationals of Indian origin and their driver were burnt alive in the vehicle that they were travelling in by a mob near Prantij town in Sabarkantha district in 2002. They were of Indian origin but were residents of the UK. In 2015, the Himmatnagar court acquitted all the six accused arrested in the case.

Dipda Darwaza: 11 persons were killed in the Dipda Darwaza area of Visnagar town in Mehsana district during the 2002 riots. Out of the total 83 accused, the trial court convicted 22 accused and sentenced 21 of them to life imprisonment in 2015. The SIT has appealed against the acquittal of 61 others at the Gujarat HC. The case is pending.